ProductTank PDX August
Details
We'll have two 20 minute talks, as well as Q&A and some time to network (yes, it is possible online!)
Post and Pivot: a riveting discussion about the art and science of Product Management with Arif Gürsel: Director of Product and Ecosystem Partnerships at Heroku
Arif is a product manager, serial entrepreneur, and community leader. Over his 20 year career, he has lead product efforts at iconic technology companies (notably Heroku, Microsoft and Zillow), built a digital agency, and run several non-profit organizations. Outside of his work at Heroku, Arif currently serves as the CEO of VIBEHEAVY, a Seattle-based digital agency and startup lab that has launched numerous new brands and products within the entertainment, fashion, and hospitality verticals. He also serves on the Board of Directors for a nonprofit, P.A.C.E., which follows a technology startup model and focuses on initiatives across Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts, and Media (S.T.E.A.M) education and activism. Find him at http://www.arifgursel.com/
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Bringing the Farmer's Market to you: In 2016, Trang Ho and Trang Sharbaugh, both Vietnam natives now living in the U.S., enrolled in IDEO.org's online course 'Introduction to Human Centered Design.' Today, based on insights and learnings from that course, the duo is running Masa (https://masafresh.com/), an online marketplace connecting local small-scale farmers and vendors directly to Portland consumers with weekly delivery of hyperlocal farm-fresh goods and produce.
Drawing on hundreds of hours of qualitative, ethnographic field research with farmers and consumers, and prototyping their way forward at every step, Trang and Trang have built a unique platform and community around regenerative farming, local supply chains, and personalized service. Small local farmers have been freed from the constraints of earning a living from once-a-week farmers markets, and shoppers have been liberated from the choice-less restrictions of a CSA subscription. From the start, the two have used a human-centered approach to reveal insights around both farmers and shoppers, and to build a unique e-commerce platform that meets the needs and wants of both.
Trang Ho has long been inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka's book Sowing Seeds in The Desert, which gave her a dream of building a viable economy around regenerative farming. After earning a bachelor's degree in Philosophy at USC, Trang spent 8 years managing e-commerce & digital marketing operations for several apparel brands. Over the years, Trang has experimented with minimal and self-sufficient living on an eco-ranch in Curitiba, Brazil, a remote island off Flatshomen, Sweden, and while traveling up the Californian coast on a sailboat.
Trang Sharbaugh made her way to Portland by way of Melbourne, Australia, where she earned a master's degree in Marketing in 2015. Her passion in local fresh markets and regenerative farming led her to visit hundreds of home gardens, community gardens, farms and fresh markets on four continents. Drawing on her 10-year experience in market research and the principles of human-centered design, she co-founded Masa in 2017. In 2019, Trang became one of 60 awardees for NPR's How I Built This Fellowship 2019, selected from more than 1,000 global applicants.